


A New Day

by JazzGirl123



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: A birthday present for edorazzi, Gen, There are more characters but I don't want to spoil anything!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 19:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18666442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazzGirl123/pseuds/JazzGirl123
Summary: It had seemed like a fair deal at the time. She was cruel and ruthless, but a woman of her word. And, oh, how good were her words.“You show far more promise….you’re wasting your potential with them…surely you know that one strong soldier is far better than ten fools. Come on, come with me, and not a single hair on their little heads will be harmed.”It was a gamble to assume she’d keep her promises, but he couldn’t risk the other outcome, couldn’t risk any of them losing their lives.So, being the pathetic coward he was, Marlon shook her hand.





	A New Day

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a day late but I wrote this as a birthday present for edorazzi! She's a HUGE fan of Marlon, and despite how much I teased him before I got to Season Four, he really is a darling who deserved a better ending! Not sure this is it, but I guess we'll see!
> 
> A lot of it is based on conversations we've had, so hopefully, Josie, if you're reading this, you remember them! I hope you guys all enjoy!

It had seemed like a fair deal at the time. She was cruel and ruthless, but a woman of her word. And, oh, how good were her words.

“You show far more promise….you’re wasting your potential with them…surely you know that one strong soldier is far better than ten fools. Come on, come with me, and not a single hair on their little heads will be harmed.”

It was a gamble to assume she’d keep her promises, but he couldn’t risk the other outcome, couldn’t risk any of them losing their lives. 

So, being the pathetic coward he was, Marlon shook her hand.

.

He lost track of time easily, couldn’t recall how long it had been. He could only guess based on how soon they’d cut his hair off again. Lilly had said that no soldier of hers would looked like a hoodlum rat, a drowned one at that.

(Violet would have snorted at that.)

Still, she crooned and whispered praises in his ear at every turn, told him he was doing so well, that she had known she had seen something in him that the others were just lacking. Minnie gave him envious looks, but what did she expect?

He had to throw himself into all of this - he  _ had  _ to - and be the golden boy that Lilly expected. Anything less than that, and he could say goodbye to his friends (again). He worked too hard for that, after all this time, so Minnie would have to deal with it.

Just like he had to deal with being Lilly’s lapdog; deal with  _ handling  _ the free-thinkers, the rebels; deal with the blood, fresh and old, on his hands.

(Brody used to squirm at the sight of it.)

“Another great battle, Marlon,” Lilly said, patting his back as they walked back to their base. “They never saw it coming; we even got some new recruits from it.”

He made the mistake of looking at the little girl, who whimpered at his glance, her father’s blood still splattered on her face and clothes. He looked away.

“We set sail tomorrow, right?” He asked instead. “Back to Base Delta?”

Lilly squeezed his shoulder, and he fought the urge to shrug her hand away.

“We do set sail, yes….” She stopped walking, and like the good soldier he was, he did too, just two steps behind her. “But you, Marlon, are not.”

(“She’s going to kill you,” Mitch yelled, “run away, you idiot!”)

“Why’s that, ma’am?” He dug his nails into his palm, wishing not for the first time that Rosie was by his side to ease his nerves; wishing they all were with him. 

(Or perhaps more accurately, he wished he was with them.)

“We’re still struggling in the east.” She clicked her tongue. “Turns out they’re harder to kill than cockroaches, so we’re sending in a few more troops on our way back. I want you there with them.”

Something heavy settled in the pit of his stomach; was this a reward or a punishment? He didn’t know the difference anymore. 

“I’m….honored, ma’am.” 

Lilly smiled and began to walk again. 

“I knew you would be, Marlon.” She folded her hands behind her back, humming. “You remind me a lot of myself, you know.”

He couldn’t hide the bewilderment (or horror) on his face even if he wanted to.

“How?” He sputtered. “Uh, ma’am?”

“Young, angry, so desperate to protect the ones you love, no matter the cost.” She seemed to ignore his tone, much to his luck. “Able to take charge in a group, but once you’re out there alone...it’s survival of the fittest. Not everyone will like you, or understand your actions-”

(“You’re  _ pathetic _ ,” Minnie spat, “and the others will never forgive you for this!)

“...and in the end, you’ll be the only one left standing.” Lilly chuckled. “Was it really mercy, Marlon? There are people much more cruel than me out there; could they survive them? Without you coddling them?”

His blood ran cold at the smirk she gave him, and he fought the urge to just bolt and never look back. She’d just hunt him down again. 

(Or the ten fools he had left behind.)

“What do we know of the enemies in the east?” Marlon figured it was best to steer the conversation away from his past life; just focus on the now, lest she get any ideas and go back on her word. “Are they just a strong settlement or part of something bigger, like us and Delta?”

(“Oh, so you’re an  _ us _ now?” Aasim would sneer at him, “So much for looking out for the rest of us.”)

“A great question, soldier, always ask about a situation before charging in.” Lilly snapped her fingers at another Delta member. “You there, take the recruits to their new cells and tell the others to get ready for departure.”

The little girl cried as someone dragged her by the back of her jacket, and he could do nothing but watch. 

“It looks like they’re just one settlement, but had been part of something bigger once with how well equipped they are,” Lilly explained, walking along the water as they approached the boat. “No forces have come to support them from other sides, but we have no way of knowing for certain.”

She stopped in front of the bridge, blocking him from the entrance with her body. If he had thought he felt sick before, he certainly was on the verge of throwing up now.

“You know firsthand the weak spots of an iron-clad settlement,” she continued. “Your insight will be valued over there, and knowing you, you’ll be able to offer them new ideas; they need a fresh look, someone sharp and strong.”

Marlon glanced over her shoulder towards the boat, and then over his own at the people taking count of their supplies.

“You’re setting sail tomorrow,” he said slowly, “but I’m going tonight, aren’t I, ma’am?”

The smile she gave him was all he needed for an answer.

.

“And here I thought I’d finally be rid of you,” muttered Minnie, scowling at him from across where she sat. “Lilly told me this was an important job; why would she send you?”

“Maybe she’s tired of us both and it’s a suicide mission,” said Marlon wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose. Being a soldier was hard, but being around her was even more difficult with how she treated him, no matter how rightfully so. “Who knows, Min?”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, extending her leg and kicking his. “Only my friends can call me that, and you lost that right two years ago.”

“Has it been two years?” He leaned his head back against the side of the jeep that Lilly had sent them away in. “What does it matter to you anyways? Not like you’ve got any friends left.”

“And you do?” She scoffed, taking out one of her arrows and fiddling with it. “Still as pathetic as ever. The others would laugh at how far you’ve fallen, how desperate you’ve become.”

Marlon bit down on his lip to stop himself from throwing Sophie back at her; he had no right, and they both knew it. 

“We’re here!” The driver called out as the jeep came to a stop, and the two teenagers glanced at each other before they climbed out. “Grab your rations and head out.”

Minnie gave the driver a flat stare, even as Marlon followed his orders.

“What do you mean, head out?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow. “We need to connect with the other Delta members and formulate a plan to take down the settlement; didn’t you hear Lilly’s orders?”

The driver - Nathan, Marlon remembered now - scoffed and pointed the end of his rifle towards them.

“I heard what she said, and I don’t care.” The older man stepped forward, but neither of them nudged and his scowled deepened. “The rest of us adults are gonna go finish the fight; you two are gonna scram.”

“Not a chance in hell!” Minnie jabbed the arrow at him, probably well aware she wouldn’t have time to lift her handcross brow before she was shot down. “I’m a member of Delta, same as you; the only difference is people actually respect  _ me _ .”

“Minnie….” Marlon gave her a warning glance, before looking back at Nathan. “Why are you doing this? Letting us go?”

Nathan shook his head.

“Don’t be thinkin’ I’m doing this out of mercy,” he said, face screwing up in obvious disgust. “We’re tired of Lilly lookin’ down at us because we won’t follow her blindly like her little pets - like  _ you _ . Better for us to do our job without you two draggin’ us down with ya; kids like you will only mess up and make us carry what you dropped.”

He jabbed his rifle in Minnie’s direction, finger twitching.

“You know what I’m talking about, doing the jobs of two people after you shot-”

“ _Don’t_ _say her name_.”

Minnie and Nathan both looked at Marlon in complete surprise, only to do a double take at the glint in his eyes. He didn’t know when he had drawn his bow, but he kept it steadily aimed at Nathan.

“We’ll go,” said Marlon after a moment, not taking his eyes off the man. “Tell Lilly we ran off, tell her we got bit; doesn’t matter, she’s always gonna have her doubts about what happened until she sees it for herself. But there’ll be other kids, and you can’t do this every time.”

“I’m not leaving Delta, and definitely not with  _ you _ ,” hissed Minnie. “I’ve got it good there; we both do! And as much as I hate to admit it, Marlon, Lilly values you-”

“So prove her right about the both of us,” he cut her off, impatient. It was only a matter of time before Nathan decided killing them was better than letting them go, and it wasn’t as if the other jeeps had gone far. “No point in going against someone when we’re this outnumbered and you know it, Minerva.”

She cocked an eyebrow at her full name, and he really just hoped she still knew him well enough despite her hatred for him. 

“Alright.” Minnie gave the older man a scathing look, but slowly lowered the arrow in her hand. “We’ll leave, but so help me if we run into you again-”

“I won’t be so kind,” sneered Nathan. “You’re lucky I’m even letting you take any rations.”

He never lowered his rifle, and Marlon had to grab Minnie by her arm to make her start walking. Even as they disappeared into the trees, she never stopped glaring at the older man.

“We’re far enough already,” she finally said, yanking her arm back from him. “Can you explain to me what the hell you were thinking? Or did you just decide licking his boots and surrendering was the easiest way to save your ass?”

He didn’t bother looking back at her; he already knew how she looked at him.

“He was going to kill us, Minnie,” he simply said. “I figure this way we have a better chance of surviving, and proving to him that he needs us.”

“How?” Her voice was incredulous, and although he knew she had no reason to trust him anymore, it still stung to hear coming from one of his best friends. “He’s already made up his mind.”

“Lilly sent us both here because she trusts us,” explained Marlon, sighing. He hated that he had even gotten her trust, but he was alive, and so were his friends so be it. “Nathan and the others don’t; they’re convinced we’re gonna mess up the mission. But think about it, Min, they’ve already messed up. If this place was easy to conquer, they wouldn’t have sent this many reinforcements. But maybe they’re thinking about it wrong.”

Minnie fell beside him, keeping with his pace as she pondered their situation.

“You want us to take down the settlement by ourselves?” She couldn’t keep the shock out of her voice, and it made him just the slightest bit amused. “ _ That’s _ a suicide mission, Marlon. Look, I’ll admit we’re both great in combat, but-”

“We’re not going to fight anyone,” he cut her off, ignoring her look. “We’re going to find their weak spot, sneak in, and take them down from the inside. That way it’s all the easier for the others to break down the outside defenses. They won’t be able to keep quiet about that, and Lilly will know what we’ve done.”

He didn’t understand her devotion to Lilly, after what she had done to Sophie, their friends, but he could use it to his advantage if he had to.

(“More manipulation and secrets?” Louis shook his head. “Dude, can’t you ever just  _ stop _ ?”)

“Ugh.” Minnie clicked her tongue. “I guess you  _ were  _ made leader for a reason back at Ericson. At least you finally look like one.”

“So are you in or not, Min?” He glanced at her, ignoring the jab at his hair. “Neither of us can do it alone, and you know it.”

“I still don’t like or trust you,” she told him flatly. 

“ **_Why_ ** ?” Marlon threw his hands up, huffing. “I mean, I get it, I do, Minnie, and I know I deserve it, but you’re the one who likes it here, who follows Lilly without question, who enjoys all the crap we have to do.”

“I like  _ surviving _ ,” snapped Minnie. “And Lilly and Delta are the best way to go about with it; they’ve shown me my potential, and that I don’t need to be coddled anymore by weak links like you! They’re honest with me, Marlon, and you weren’t. So it doesn’t matter if you’re the reason I ended up here or not.”

“So what  _ does  _ matter?” 

He knew he probably shouldn’t push her buttons after just barely getting her to agree to his plan, but he really couldn’t help it. He knew he deserved to be hated for what he had done to his own friends, what had led to Sophie’s death, but at the same time, he didn’t understand if she ended up fitting in at Delta in the end. In fact, he was a little afraid she  _ enjoyed  _ doing the same things he hated.

Minnie gave him a withering look, her fingers tightening on her bow, and he tensed, ready to fire back if she decided killing him was better for her own means. 

(Maybe he should have died in that courtyard, then Minnie and everyone else would have been better off. They didn’t need him.)

“Will you stop trying to get yourself killed?” She said finally, sighing as she lowered her handcross bow. “You’re not getting out of this so easily.”

Marlon blinked, and she gave him an unimpressed look.

“You hated it at Delta, but you followed Lilly like a lapdog so she wouldn’t go back to Ericson, right? It’s all over your face.” She flipped the hair out of her face. “You can convince her, sure, but I’ve known you for years, asshole. And I know what your mom’s boyfriend used to say about you. I know what you look like when you spiral and panic.”

Minnie loaded a new arrow, not looking at him anymore.

“But maybe he was right about you being so pathetic. Big dreams and big talk but the second things turn a little sideways you scramble for safety instead of going at it head-on. Hiding your head in the sand like a coward.” 

She chuckled. 

“That’s how I ended up here in the first place, ain’t it? That’s why Sophie’s  _ dead _ .”

Marlon closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began walking ahead of her; her legs were long, he was sure she’d catch up in moments.

“Sophie’s dead because you shot her,” he said, shaking his head. His voice was quiet, but with just the two of them in the woods, she could hear him just fine and he knew it. “You were more concerned about saving your own ass than helping the person you love. That’s why you’re still here; that’s not why I’m here, Minnie. I’m here because I’d rather kill myself than not help our friends in what way I can.”

“And that’s why you’re going to die before me,” she said, brushing past him just like he knew she would. “You’re afraid of seeing the bigger picture, of letting go of what’s holding you back.”

“They were your friends too,” he reminded her, “and you’re the one who never came back for them. If you hated me so much, you could have come back and exposed me, everything, and gotten Lilly more recruits. But you never did, so what does that make  _ you _ ?”

Minnie stopped, and he was sure she would have shot him dead at that moment if not for the trap that swept her up in a net, leaving her dangling from the branches. 

“Fuck!” She scrambled for her axe, letting out another curse when it slipped between the netting and fell into the grass. “Marlon, cut the rope, quick!”

He reached for his pocket knife immediately, but it went flying as he was knocked to the ground from behind. Minnie gargled some sort of insult he couldn’t really make out.

Then all went black.

.

First thing he noticed was the throbbing at the back of his head. The second thing was the repeated kicking to his side. 

“Wake up, wake up, wake  _ up _ already, you idiot!” Minnie hissed, digging her boot into him harder each time. “I know you’re alive.”

“I won’t be if you keep kicking me,” grumbled Marlon, rolling away out of her reach as he opened his eyes. “Where are we?”

There were a…. _ few  _ things he missed about the old Ericson; kissing a dirty locker room floor was not one of them.

“Where the hell?” He murmured, pushing himself up as best as he could with his bound hands. “Am I in detention again?”

“If your detention included being bounded and knocked unconscious, we should have reported the teachers a lot sooner,” remarked Minnie, cocking an eyebrow at him. “No, you dingus; we’re in some sort of gym or something, being used as a prison now. Thanks for your help, by the way, getting us captured.”

Marlon sighed, deciding not to bother anymore; they were just gonna go back and forth, and he knew it.

“Did you get a good look at who got us, at least?” He asked, struggling in his bonds.

(“Oh, hot,” Louis murmured, earning a smack from both Mitch and Violet. “What, I don’t kinkshame!”)

Minnie sighed, leaning against one of the locker room benches, only to yelp when the bench moved back and she fell with it. He wisely bit his tongue to avoid laughing at her.

“Sorta, they dropped me to the ground just after they knocked you out,” she admitted, a bit reluctantly. “Don’t think they were leaders or anything, just some general soldiers on ground patrol.”

“Got enough authority to get us locked up,” he pointed out. “Did they tie us up with….ribbons?”

“Feels like clothes, I think,” said Minnie, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to free her hands. “Apparently got some to spare; not surprising if they’ve got buildings and enough people and weapons to keep Delta away this long.”

“Should be easy enough to-there!” Marlon grinned as he ripped the clothes apart, wiggling his now free fingers. “Want me to untie you?”

“I’d rather get bit by a horde of walkers,” deadpanned Minnie, moments before she broke free as well. “Bet you the door’s locked.”

“Never hurts to try.” He walked over and jiggled the handle, sighing when it didn’t turn all the way. “Oh well, there’s probably another way out of here - why is there an armchair in a prison? And a…..lamp?”

“Someone’s real bad at interior design.” Minnie shrugged as she got to her feet. “I think I see a window; we can probably use the benches to climb out.”

“You’re tall, all you need is a stepstool,” he murmured, patting down his clothes. “They stripped us of all weapons. Wonder what their plans were for us.”

“Too bad we’re not sticking around to find out.” She looked around the locker room, humming. “Watch the door while I climb out, got it?”

Marlon considered asking if she planned on actually helping him out, but then figured it was probably for the best he stop trying to fight her. He may have given her orders once a long time ago, but they both listened to someone else now.

“Shouldn’t we at least look for weapons before we break out?” He asked, watching her shove the bench towards the wall. “We don’t know what’s waiting out there for us.”

“Why would they have weapons in their prison?” She huffed. “If you feel so helpless, I dunno, break a pipe off of that sink or something. There’s your weapon.”

He massaged his temples as he fell back onto the armchair. Lilly, he could handle easily; just follow her orders and don’t argue back. 

Minnie? She was a nightmare in combat boots.

(“ _ Hot _ ,” remarked Violet, earning looks. “It’s homophobic to say anything to me right now, Louis.”)

“You look like an old man in retirement; all you’re missing is a smoking pipe and, oh, laying at your feet would be a sweet old dog-” Minnie abruptly cut herself off, focusing on the pipe bars blocking the window. “Huh. Sturdy.”

He wondered how the others were doing, if they were doing better without him. He hoped so; a part of him wished they missed him and wanted to come get him back, but the bigger part of him knew it was for the best if they didn’t. 

They better be taking care of his girl or he’d unleash hell on them all. 

“No, I wouldn’t,” he murmured, sighing. “Maybe a little.”

“Ugh, Marlon, you’re stronger than me.” Minnie snapped her fingers at him. “Come help push the bars, will you? Or I could get on your shoulders and kick down the bars-”

The doors slammed open, making Minnie fall off the bench and Marlon leap out of the armchair, and the two teenagers stared wide-eyed at their captor. 

“Damn it, Javi, stop slamming the doors open!” An older man exclaimed, giving the man beside him an exasperated look. “If we weren’t thirty fucking feet underground, you’d attract so many walkers.”

The younger man - Javi, they presumed - held up his hands.

“It’s been a while since we had company!” He remarked. “I got excited and hey, you’re the one who asked me to come along, David.”

David ran his hands over his face, clearly tired. He looked a lot like what Marlon felt when Louis named  _ Chairles  _ for the first time.

“ _ Ay dios mios _ ,” he murmured. “Can you focus? It was your idea to come down here in the first place; that’s why I asked you to come.”

“Right, right.” Javi clapped his hands together, finally facing the two teenagers who were still trying to process the two so-called adults in front of them. “So! Welcome to New Richmond; my name is Javier, and my brother and I sorta kinda run the place.”

“Let me guess, you wanna torture us for info about the people who are gonna take you down and strip you of your leadership?” Minnie scoffed. “You’ll never get me to talk. Him? Maybe.”

The look on both the men’s faces almost made Marlon laugh; it was a mix of horror and bewilderment, and something else he couldn’t place.

“What the hell? No!” Javi placed a hand over his chest. “I mean, yeah, we’ve got questions but mostly we just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“By trapping us and typing us up?” Minnie narrowed her eyes, and she reminded Marlon of a lion stalking its prey. “Oh, yeah, you seem like real caring people alright.”

“In our defense, we weren’t expecting children,” said Javi, sighing. “And normally, no, we wouldn’t go to that extreme for children but we had to assume the worst if you were with that other group.”

“Broke out of your ties, I see,” commented David, crossing his arms. “So let’s get started.”

Minnie plopped down on the bench, keeping her eyes trained on them.

“Do your worst,” she said. “People will be looking for us, and then you’ll be real sorry.”

David gave her an odd look, and then glanced over at the other teenager, the one who had been quiet since their arrival.

Marlon didn’t leap into action like his, for lack of a better word, partner; instead, he listened to their conversation, watched the way both men moved around, looked at them. It was calculating, but not in the way Lilly looked at them; there was something else there, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He just knew they didn’t look the slightest bit like ruthless soldiers that could hold off people like Delta. In fact, he was pretty sure Minnie could drop kick the man called Javier in two seconds and bolt if she wanted. 

“You called this place New Richmond?” He finally said, sticking his hands into his jacket pockets so no one saw them shake. “What kind of place is this? You’ve got walls for miles and weapons that could supply hundreds for weeks.”

“It’s, uh, it’s home,” remarked Javi, rubbing the side of his neck. “It wasn’t always like this, but we’ve cleaned it up, made it into a real honest place. And, yeah, you know, we’ve got weapons and everything, but it’s suicide not to have any in this kinda world.”

“Why are you taking on Delta?” Minnie demanded. “You could never win against us, you know? Our commander even sent her two best soldiers out here to take you down.”

“Stop, and go back.” David gave them both sharp looks. “Did you say soldiers? You two? You’re soldiers?”

“Her good little soldiers,” murmured Marlon, glancing down at the floor. “What, you think we can’t be?”

“I think you’re just a bunch of kids,” said David, putting his hands on his hips, an astonished look on his face. “Someone sent two kids out here into a warzone? After weeks of fighting, they decided two kids could somehow change everything? You’re not soldiers; you can’t be.”

He cut himself off, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“Let me ask you this: are you so-called soldiers because you want to be? Or because someone made you feel you’ve got no other choice?”

Marlon was able to finally figure out what the look in their eyes had been; it was something he had not seen in a long time, if at all. 

(“You know they won’t miss you,” Lilly crooned, “not after what you’ve done.”)

Concern.

Was it because it was such a contrast to how Lilly looked at him? Was it because his instincts told him he wasn’t in danger? Was it because he saw this as his way out?

He didn’t know; all he knew was that was so, so tired. And so, he opened his mouth.

“She said she wouldn’t hurt my friends if I went with her instead,” he blurted, ignoring Minnie’s glare. “I…..I just didn’t want to lose anyone else.”

The truth came out, again, but this time he could accurately say it was because he was ready for it this time.

.

“Morning, Marlon!”

“Hey, Marlon! Oh, nice haircut!”

Marlon smiled as he waved back at the couple passing by, feeling a bit light on his feet. A merry whistle left his lips as he approached the unfinished house he and the others had been working on.

It had been six months since he first came to New Richmond, and he could honestly say he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this relaxed.  

Minnie had tried to get him to shut up, but when he got to explaining what had he done to the twins, she got quiet and seemed to accept her new fate. 

She still wouldn’t speak with him, but it was clear after a while she no longer fully believed in Lilly and Delta anymore. He wasn’t sure, but he suspected she might have even finally given her sister a proper funeral.

David and Javi, on the other hand, had openly showed their horror at what had happened to them, and almost immediately got them checked out by their doctor, got them settled into homes, and even personally checked up on them both.

He did think talking about Clementine helped a lot; after telling his story, the two men admitted they knew her too, and talked a bit about how she had helped them establish New Richmond. 

(“Trust me, you can’t limit your zone if you don’t have the walls to back yourself up,” Clem told him. “If you won’t branch you, you’re just gonna get everyone killed.”)

She had always been a good leader with him before things went south; he was positive the school was flourishing with her in charge now. 

Thinking of them made his heart ache, but he couldn’t go back, not after everything he had done to them; not to mention, he couldn’t risk running into Lilly or Delta, or he could kiss this new home goodbye.

Besides, he had made some new friends here too, so it wasn’t all bad.

“Oh, hey, Marlon need some water? Busy, busy, busy out here building, uh, houses and stuff?” 

Marlon smiled as he took the bottle, a bit amused. 

“Thanks, Gabe,” he said, twisting the cap open, “but you know I just got here, right? Is that a marker mustache on your face?”

The other boy scowled and scrubbed his upper lip.

“Ugh, Mariana!” He murmured. “It’s because I accidentally stepped on her good pencils last night, so she couldn’t finish her story.”

“You monster,” teased Marlon, and laughed as Gabe took the bottle of water back to splash on his face. “Hey, don’t waste our drinking water.”

“I only need a bit. I am  _ not  _ bathing in the river again, not after what happened with the geese.” Gabe tore off his beanie, using it as a sponge to scrub at his face. “Is it off?”

“Can’t tell,” admitted the blonde, “what, with your little goatee, it blends right in. Or it did until you smeared it.”

“ _ Aye mierda! _ ” Gabe stuffed his beanie in his back pocket, a defeated look on his face as the other boy continued to laugh. “This sucks.”

“I didn’t think a marker mustache would bother you after getting your head stuck in a bucket and getting chased by a goat for three hours,” said Marlon. “I still don’t know what Clem sees in you.”

“I ask myself that every day.” Gabe grinned. “I was a real dork when we first met, and now she’s out there meeting hotties like you?”

“You sure are something.” Marlon shook his head. “Are you here to build houses or just be a fire hazard again? Or ‘accidentally’ spill water on me when I take my shirt off again?”

“ _ Yeah _ .”

Marlon playfully pushed the other boy away, ready to get started with the others, when-

“Actually, Marlon?” Gabe clicked his tongue. “I, uh, came to tell you something. You know how I always talk about how I’m gonna sweep Clem up and make her forget all those pretty people she met on the road? Or seduce her with my card game?”

“Which isn’t going to work, but go on.”

Gabe snorted.

“You’re probably right, but fine, okay. Well, I couldn’t do it. I froze up and I tripped on my face.”

His blood ran cold, and he turned to fully face the other boy.

“What….do you mean you couldn’t do it?” Marlon asked, voice quiet. “You mean, you decided you would do something else or….?”

The younger teen gave him a small smile.

“I mean, there was so much to say and not enough time,” he said simply. “I thought you should know before-”

“Rosie, wait!”

Marlon yelped as he was tackled to the ground, into the pits, a familiar rough tongue slobbering all over him in a way he hadn’t experienced in so long. He wasn’t sure if his chest hurt because of the sudden weight on it, or because of how full his heart suddenly felt.

“Hey, girl,” he murmured, running his hands over her fur, over her face and nose, gleefully oblivious to the drool soaking into his skin and clothes. In face, he buried his face into her fur, sighing. “I missed you too, girl, yeah, I did. I know, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“We’re sorry too.”

Marlon looked up, seeing Gabe now standing beside Clem, who stood off to the side as Louis crouched down beside him, a half-crooked smile on his face. He was certain the other students were behind him, but there was a lot of drool in his eyes. He loved it.

“Marlon?” 

The blonde looked back at the musician, his best friend of over ten years, and remembered the times they laughed, the times they cried, the last hug they shared before he disappeared in the dead of the night.

“Hey, Louis.” 

Marlon smiled, reaching out to take his hand. 

“Good to see you again, bud.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! I hope this didn't turn out to be too rushed! I had a LOT I wanted to bring in, but I didn't know how to pace it out well, especially towards the end, so please let me know if anything needs to be edited or considered!
> 
> And another happy birthday to edorazzi!


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